The present invention relates to a new vehicle lamp structure. In particular, a structure for a vehicle lamp in which an attachment base body such as a body, a reflector, or the like is coupled to a lens covering a front surface thereof by engagement of at least a part, that enables the engagement to be free from looseness by allowing for variations in dimensions generated during molding.
In a vehicle lamp, an attachment base, for example, a body, or a reflector is coupled to a lens covering the front surface thereof by engagement of at least a part.
A conventional vehicle lamp employs a structure such as one as shown in FIG. 4 with regard to portions where the lens is engaged with the body.
Namely, an engagement leg portion b protruding rearward is formed at one end portion of a lens a, and an engagement latch c is provided protruding at a tip portion of the engagement leg portion b. An engagement projection e is formed on an inner side surface of a body d. One end portion of the lens a on which the engagement leg portion b is formed is inserted into the inside portion of the body d, with the other end portion of the lens a engaged with the other end portion of the body d, so that the engagement latch c of the engagement leg portion b is engaged with the engagement projection e of the body d. In this case, a part of the lens a, not shown, abuts against a part of the body d, not shown, thereby restricting an insertion depth of the lens a into the body d.
Typically, the lens a is secured to the body d by both end portions of the lens a being engaged with the body d in the aforementioned manner.
In an aforementioned conventional vehicle lamp, molded positions and dimensions of the engagement leg portion b of the lens a and the engagement latch c thereof, as well as molded positions and dimensions of the engagement projection e of the body d must be designed such that an engagement surface cxe2x80x2 of the engagement latch c completely abuts against an engagement surface exe2x80x2 of the engagement projection e, which otherwise may cause looseness.
However if the vehicle lamp is designed in the aforementioned manner, variations during molding may cause looseness, or other problems that may make engagement impossible. Namely, if the engagement surface cxe2x80x2 of the engagement latch c is positioned too far to the rear of the design value, a gap is created between the engagement surface cxe2x80x2 and the engagement surface exe2x80x2 of the engagement projection e of the body d which may cause looseness. Conversely, if the position of the engagement surface cxe2x80x2 is too close to the front (i.e. the length of the leg portion b is too short), during assembly the engagement latch c cannot climb over the engagement projection e to the rear, causing a state where the engagement latch c is unable to engage with the engagement projection e (as shown in FIG. 5).
The present invention overcomes the problems discussed above to ensure engagement even if variations are generated during molding.
A vehicle lamp according to the present invention is provided to resolve the aforementioned problems. In the vehicle lamp, a lens is provided with an engagement leg portion which is inserted into the attachment base body so as to be engaged with an engagement portion of the attachment base body. Further, first and second engagement protruding portions are formed, with a space therebetween in an insertion direction into the attachment base body, on a surface of the engagement leg portion facing the engagement portion of the attachment base body. A surface of the first engagement protruding portion opposite the insertion direction is a slanted surface that is increasingly displaced to a side opposite the insertion direction, according to departure from the engagement portion of the attachment base body. The engagement portion of the attachment base body comprises first and second engagement projections protruding toward the engagement leg portion of the lens, and the engagement leg portion of the lens is engaged with the engagement portion of the attachment base body by elastic contact of the slanted surface of the first engagement protruding portion and the first engagement projection of the attachment base body. The second engagement protruding portion is positioned on the insertion direction side of the second engagement projection so as to face the second engagement projection.
Accordingly, in a vehicle lamp according to the invention, by the elastic contact of the slanted surface of the first engagement protruding portion of the lens and the first engagement projection of the attachment base body, the lens is urged in the insertion direction, enabling an engagement of the lens with the attachment base body that is free from looseness. In addition, since the second engagement protruding portion of the lens is disposed on the insertion direction side of the second engagement projection so as to face the second engagement projection, the lens can be prevented from falling off of the attachment base body. Nevertheless, since the first engagement protruding portion is engaged with the first engagement projection on the slanted surface of the first engagement protruding portion, the engagement is possible within the range of a length of the slanted surface in the insertion direction, which thereby eliminates the need to accurately design the positional relationship between the second engagement protruding portion and the second engagement projection. This allows variations during molding to be taken into consideration in the design stage, such that there is no looseness or, conversely, engagement problems during assembly due to variations that occurred during molding.